BREAKING NEWS, Health
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THE Nigerian government has said that 28.7 percent of the country’s population still practice open defecation. Only 34 percent of the people have access to improved sanitation facilities, 30 percent share while 46.1 percent have access to non-improved facilities.
Suleiman Hussaini Adamu, minister of water resources, who gave these statistics in his presentation at the Water Supply and Sanitation Consultative Council, WSSCC, Stakeholders’ Consultation Workshop, said lack of water, sanitation and hygiene, WASH, affects development and the economy. WASH provides opportunities for every child to develop, he said.
Adamu said 272 million school children were lost each year due to diarrhoea; 400 million school children have diminished learning abilities due to intestinal worm infections, adding that a girl could miss up to 10 to -20 percent of her school days. Quoting UNICEF, the minister said, “Poor sanitation costs Nigeria the equivalent of 1.3 percent of GDP.”
He explained that $243 million is lost each year in access time because each person practicing open defecation spends almost 25 days a year finding a private location to defecate, leading to large economic losses. “This cost falls disproportionately on women and daughters who may spend additional time accompanying young children or sick or elderly relatives. This cost is likely to be an underestimation as those without toilets, particularly women, will be obliged to find a private location for urination as well.”
— Aug 15, 2016 @ 01:00 GMT
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